You could of course use an ice-cream bucket but it would be pretty small. We have a friend who packages kitchen vegetable debris in those new biodegradable plastic type bags and just buries them in the ground.
Three or four years ago I built a sort of log house just a little over four feet square notching the logs just deep enough to leave about three quarters of an inch between them for air flow. I made a sloped gable and a hinged plywood top to make loading it easy and a raising door at one side so I can fork out compost from the bottom. Usually I just leave the top open so there is enough moisture from the rain though occasionally I do have to spray a little in with the hose. From time-to-time I fork it over just to make sure there is enough air and to spread the hot cooking stuff around the less active stuff. It looks like this cute little log cabin at the bottom corner of my garden a little over four feet square and just under five feet to the top of the roof. Just now ai don't have a grass catcher on my mower but while we were on holidays the kid across the lane cut the grass and threw it in, good green stuff to get things really hot. I grind up other garden debris too including hedge trimming and in the fall, all the annual and perennial material and rose bush pruning and of course I push bags of fallen leaves through the shredder and add them. Most of that doesn't cook much until the spring but before I put my gardens to bed for the winter I will have about a yard of wonderful rich soil to add. You wouldn't believe what it has done for my lilly gardens this year. Hundreds of huge plants and the fragrance is divine! I generally just leave my garden fork sticking into the pile, you wouldn't believe how hot it can get sometimes, I can hardly handle the tines. I should have a piece of perforated pipe down the middle to permit more air into the middle of the pile it would work better. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sheila Enerson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 10:02 PM Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] How to Make a Compost Bin from a Garbage Can > Could I use a plastic ice cream bucket? > > Sheila > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Boyce, Ray > Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:09 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] How to Make a Compost Bin from a Garbage Can > > Hi > Compost is nothing more than decomposed plant material, so you don't need > a > fancy bin to make your own compost. You can create compost in a heap on > the > ground, but most gardeners think that containing your compost pile makes > it > look tidier. Here's how to make compost in a recycled garbage can. > > Steps: > 1. > Punch holes in a garbage can. The microbes that actually do the composting > need oxygen to do their work. > > 2. > Chop plant debris into small pieces and place them inside the garbage can. > Ideally, you should use 50 percent green material and 50 percent dry, but > you > can use shredded newspaper for the dry material if necessary. You don't > need > to fill the can all at one time - just put in the plant material you have > on hand. > > 3. > Spray water over the chopped plant material inside the can, until the > material is damp but not soggy. > > 4. > Put the lid on the can. > > 5. > Place the filled garbage can on bricks or several 2-by-4-inch pieces of > lumber to keep the can off the ground and prevent it from rusting. > > 6. > Turn the can as often as daily, or at least once a week. Lay the can on > its > side and roll it around to mix the plant material inside. > > 7. > Add more plant material at any time. > > 8. > Keep the compost about as moist as a wrung-out sponge by spraying it with > water when the plant material begins to feel dry. > > 9. > Harvest your compost after one month. Use a wire screen or piece of > chicken > wire to strain out the unfinished compost. > > Tips: > > Compost can be used to top-dress garden beds or as potting soil for indoor > plants. > > Once the plant material inside the can is no longer warm to the touch, the > composting process is finished. > > ********************************************************************** > This message and its attachments may contain legally > privileged or confidential information. If you are not the > intended recipient, you must not disclose or use the > information contained in it. 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